NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Somerset, PA, United States, 2006/11/09 - Written for day traders, active traders and investors. A review of the market activity for the day, economic data plus, world news.

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The markets held in a very tight trading range today giving day traders very little action to play with. We saw the major indices react differently during the morning session but, concluded that the Bears had control in the afternoon. At the close of trading today here is how the major indices stacked up: the DOW (Dow Jones Industrial Average) racked up a loss of 71.40 points to close at 12103.30; the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) followed the lead for a loss on the day of 43.82 points to close at 8813.73; the NASDAQ shed pre-afternoon gains to give up 8.93 points at the close to end the session at 2376.01; the S&P 500 (Standard & Poor’s 500 Index) moved lower by 7.39 points to end the day at 1378.33 and the RUSSELL 2000 gave up 7.78 points to end at 762.06 on the day. The FTSE All-World Index ex-US (top Large/Mid Cap aggregate from over 2,700 stocks from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS) which covers 90% of the worlds investable market capitalization) moved lower by 0.26 to close at 229.67 and the FTSE RAFI 1000 moved lower by 26.47 points to close at 5730.53.

Comments released by former FOMC Chairman Alan Greenspan: Sarbanes-Oxley bill high cost for business; likely near peak for attainable profit margins; commodity prices no big deal for developed economy; globalization is a force for economic good; key for productivity is speed of implementation; hard to breach 3% productivity gain level; Democrats' win may not mean much policy change; jobs, incomes doing reasonably well; housing to be a smaller drag on growth; housing has seen 'fairly sharp contraction'; Sarbanes-Oxley may soon be reformed in Congress; sees current econ slowdown as temporary and U.S. Capital spending outlook 'positive’.

Economic data released for the day:

BOE Announcement: Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee which consists of nine members meets for two days each month, during the first week of the month to determine the direction of monetary policy, in the near-term. BOE decided on a change of 25 basis points creating a new monetary rate of 5.0%.

Import and Export Prices: Goods bought in the United States but produced abroad plus goods sold abroad but produced domestically are compiled in an index which indicates inflationary trends in internationally traded products. September Exports came in at $123.16B with an increase of 0.5% and Imports came in at $187.46B for a drop of -2.1%; August Trade Gap was revised to $68.96 Billion from $69.86 Billion; September Trade Deficit came in at $64.30 Billion versus consensus $65.80 Billion; October Petroleum Import Prices fell by 8.3%; October Non-Petroleum Import Prices fell by 0.6%; Import Prices fell by 0.2% on the year which is the 1st decline since September 2002 and October Import Prices fell by 2.0% compared to consensus of a drop by 1.5%.

International Trade: Details of International trade measures the difference between imports and exports of tangible goods and services. As Imports may apply a draw on the economy, they also increase competitive pressure among domestic producers while Exports give a boost to domestic production. For September, Trade Balance fell by $64.3 Billion versus consensus of a drop by $66.0 Billion.

Jobless Claims: A weekly compilation of new unemployment claims to show the number of individuals who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time. The condition of the labor market is determined by an increase of the number of claims which suggests a deteriorating labor market. For week of October 28th, Continuing Claims rose by 43K to 2,448,000 and Jobless Claims fell by 20K to 308K for week of November 4th compared to survey of a drop by -12K.

Consumer Sentiment: 500 households are surveyed by The University of Michigan’s Consumer Survey Center, on their financial conditions and attitudes about the economy. The strength of consumer spending is directly related to consumer sentiment. University of Michigan 5-year Inflation Forecast rose by 3.0% with October rising by 3.0%; University of Michigan 12-Month Inflation Forecast rose by 3.0% with October rising by 3.1%; University of Michigan Mid-November expectations came in at 83.2 compared to October reading of 84.8; University of Michigan Mid-November Current Index came in at 106.5 compared to October reading of 107.3 and University of Michigan Mid-November Sentiment came in at 92.3 compared to October reading of 93.6.

Wholesale Trade: The dollar value of sales made and inventories held by merchant wholesalers is a measurement referred to as, wholesale trade. U.S. Wholesale Inventories rose by 0.8% in September.

EIA Natural Gas Report: Weekly information provided by the EIA (Energy Information Administration) on natural gas stock piles in underground storage in the United States and three regions of the country. Prices for natural gas products are determined by the level of inventories. Weekly change for week of November 4th came in with a drop by 7 Bcf.

On the commodities markets, the trend was higher across the board again today: Light crude rose by $1.33 to close at $61.16 a barrel; Brent Crude ended the day on Wednesday with a gain of $1.11 to close at $59.59 a barrel; Heating Oil closed higher by $0.04 to close at $1.75 a gallon; Natural Gas ended the day higher by $0.12 at $8.34 per million BTU and Unleaded Gas moved higher by $0.04 to close at $1.60 a gallon.

Metals ended the session nicely higher today: Gold rallied higher by $18.50 to close at $636.80 an ounce; Silver moved higher by $0.50 to close at $13.05 an ounce; Platinum rallied much higher by $33.70 to close at $1,201.00 an ounce and Copper ended the day with a gain of $0.06 to close at $3.31 per pound.

On the Livestock and Meat markets, the trend was mixed on the session today: Lean Hogs moved lower by 0.60 to close at 64.70; Pork Bellies closed lower by 0.35 to end the day at 90.68; Live Cattle moved higher by 0.43 to end the day at 85.88 and Feeder Cattle ended nicely higher today by 1.68 to close at 96.38.

Other Commodities: Corn shed 7.75 on the day to close at 350.00 and Soybeans fell sharply by 8.50 to close at 669.50.

Bonds were mixed across the board today: 2 year Bond closed flat with no change at 100 7/32; 5 year bond closed higher by 1/32 at 100 3/32; 10 year bond moved higher by 1/32 to end the day at 101 28/32 and the 30 year bond closed lower by 2/32 at 96 10/32.

The end of day results for the CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) which is comprised of the total Exchange Volume for Futures and Options (EVFO) including Electronic, Open Auction and Cash Exchange ended the day at 3,276,205. Open Interest for Futures fell by 26,736 to close at 8,718,658 and the Open Interest for Options moved higher by 188,059 to close at 8,000,110 for a total Open Interest of 16,718,768 for a total gain on the day by 161,323. The mini Dow ended the session with a loss of 69 to close at 12139. The total Dow Exchange Volume for the day came in at 146,848 which are comprised of Electronic, Open Auction and Cash Exchange. Traders should review workshops available at the CBOT
(Chicago Board of Trade) Educational in-person seminars schedules available on CBOT (Chicago Board of Trade) website.

New York Stock Exchange movers for the day: Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Company (CME) fell sharply by 9.43 points to close at $495.29; Scottish Power plc (SPI) fell by 3.86 points to end the day at $54.51; Potash Corporation/Saskatchewan (POT) fell by 4.27 points to close at $137.47; World Fuel Services Corporation (INT) moved nicely higher by 4.63 points to close at $47.57 and R.H. Donnelley Corporation (RHD) moved lower by 3.20 points to close the session at $60.01.

On the NASDAQ today, advancers came in at 1,040; decliners totaled 1,987; unchanged came in at 156; new highs came in at 122 which is same as yesterday and new lows came in at 47.

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